The EU REACH regulation is the English abbreviation of "Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals". It is a regulation of the European Union on the registration, evaluation, authorization and restriction of chemicals. It will be officially implemented on June 1. The REACH regulation replaces more than 40 chemical management laws and regulations in the European Union and becomes a complete regulation for the unified preventive management of all chemicals entering the EU market.

Many people who don't know much about EU certification may only have heard of CE certification and RoHS certification, and may not know much about REACH. Let's take a closer look at some specific content of REACH regulations:

1. Scope: The control scope of REACH regulations is very wide, involving all electrical and non-electrical products exported to the EU.

2. Test methods and test substances: REACH tests the content of SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern) in the whole product. The basic test method also needs to disassemble the product, and then need to group metal materials and non-metal materials, according to certain The number of material points is divided into several groups and then mixed tests are performed.

3. Mandatory: REACH is a requirement for the quality of export products, similar to an obligation requirement, but there is no mandatory requirement that products need to have a REACH SVHC test report before they can be cleared normally, so strictly speaking, it is not mandatory , but in recent years, EU customers have continuously improved their awareness of environmental protection, so customers have more and more requirements for REACH.

Classification of REACH Regulations for Controlled Products

Substance: Chemical elements and their compounds in their natural state (existing) or obtained through production processes.

Preparation: A mixture or solution consisting of two or more substances.

Article: An object consisting of one or more substances and/or one or more preparations. Have a specific shape, appearance or design scheme.

List of Toxic and Hazardous Substances under REACH

1. SVHC list of substances of high concern (REACH required by most customers is REACH SVHC)

SVHC is the English abbreviation of "Substance of Very High Concern" (substance of very high concern), which refers to substances that cause risks to humans and the environment and cause high concern.

According to Article 57 of the REACH regulations, substances with one or more of the following hazardous characteristics, which cause high concern, will be added to the SVHC list:

1) Class 1, Class 2 carcinogenic, teratogenic, and reproductively toxic substances, ie / Class 2 substances;

2) Persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic substances, namely PBT substances;

3) highly persistent, highly bioaccumulative substances, namely vPvB substances;

4) It has endocrine detoxifying properties, or is persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic, or is highly persistent and bioaccumulative but does not meet the criteria of 2 and 3, and there is scientific evidence to prove that it is harmful to humans or the environment seriously affected substances.

As the implementation of REACH progresses, ECHA (European Chemicals Agency) has successively announced multiple batches of SVHC lists. As of August 3, 2022, the SVHC list has been updated to the 27th batch, with a total of 224 substances. REACH is updated frequently. It is necessary to continue to pay attention to and update the report in time to avoid the report standard being expired and not recognized by the guests.

2. RSL Restricted Substance List (REACH Appendix 17, a small number of customers will have requirements)

The list of restricted substances is Annex XVII of the REACH Regulation, which restricts the manufacture, marketing and use of certain hazardous substances, preparations and articles, and is an important obligation for articles other than SVHC. Authorized substances belonging to Annex XIV of REACH regulations, when the existing economic and technical means can fully control the risk, and alternative substances or alternative technologies can completely replace the authorized substances and their uses, ECHA will add them to the list of restricted substances in Annex XVII of REACH regulations and stipulate Its exempt volume limits its production or import within the EU.

The REACH regulation states that a substance which is restricted in Annex XVII shall not be manufactured, placed on the market or used by itself, in a preparation or in an article, unless it complies with the restrictions. All products circulating in the EU must comply with the restrictive requirements of Annex XVII of the REACH Regulations. Enterprises need to conduct restrictive inspection and testing of products, abide by the restrictive conditions, and ensure the smooth progress of trade with Europe.